ABSTRACT
Precisely because it appears so different, based on ideas and ideals which are quite often very different from those of Europe, Indian civilisation for the Europeans has always had a certain mystique about it. These values are of course partly bound up in what the European likes to term ' religion' - contrasting the Christian basis of European culture with the Hindu-and Muslim-dominated culture of India. In the next chapter which deals with the Muslim invasions of India and the establishment of Islamic empires, we will introduce some of the ideals underlying Islam. In this chapter I try and give the reader some empathetic understanding of Hinduism - but let me stress immediately that the idea that it is a 'religion' in the same sense as Christianity is not helpful at all. Hinduism is often been described as a way of life - it is not separate from secular life - indeed the concept of secular life is very difficult for many Hindus to embrace. Hindu society does have its immediate and observable characteristics which attracted the attention of European travellers - the ornate temples, some with erotic carvings, the division of society into castes, a few of which were associated when the Europeans first contacted India with horrific practices such as suttee (the self immolation of a new widow upon her husband's funeral pyre.) But these 'characteristics' say little about Hinduism itself, no more than the clothes a person wears reveal their state of mind. What matters more is a basic understanding of the principles from which such apparently 'strange' customs could emerge. I assume the reader has an understanding of western Christian culture (even if not a practising adherent). I will take great liberties in order to try to expose by contrast with Hinduism some of the fundamental tenets on which this 'Christian' life may be based.
